An F/A-18F Super Hornet attached to Strike Fighter Squadron 41 takes off from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury, Feb. 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy)
Three U.S. service members were killed in action and five seriously wounded in Operation Epic Fury against Iran, U.S. Central Command said Sunday.
Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions and are in the process of returning to duty. Major combat operations continue, the command said.
The Pentagon is withholding the names of those killed as officials work to notify next of kin. Identities will be released 24 hours after families have been notified, the command said.
CENTCOM did not provide further details about the circumstances of the deaths or injuries.
NBC News and The Washington Post reported earlier that the three service killed were members of the U.S. Army who were deployed to Kuwait.
The U.S. and Israel launched extensive strikes against Iran on Saturday morning after months of stalling negotiations over the country’s nuclear program. President Donald Trump later that night announced the operation had resulted in the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader.
Addressing the nation shortly after strikes began, Trump said the U.S. would never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and vowed to raze Iran’s missile industry to the ground and annihilate its navy. He also acknowledged U.S. service members may die in the process.
In another video message on Sunday, Trump said the U.S. would “avenge” the deaths of the service members and that “there will likely be more” killed before the conflict ends.
The president made the comments in a roughly six-minute video he posted on social media. He called the three service members “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.”
He added: “Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more.”
Iran has responded to the attacks with hundreds of missiles and drones aimed at U.S. military installations around the region. In Bahrain, a U.S. naval base was struck multiple times on Saturday, damaging U.S. Naval Forces Central Command headquarters and warehouses. Multiple residential buildings were struck elsewhere on the island and attacks continued well into Sunday.
Other U.S. bases in the region have also been targeted. Authorities in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan and the UAE have reported shooting down missiles and drones since the strikes began.
In a post on X, CENTCOM appeared to confirm that the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln had been targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles but said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ claims Sunday that the ship had been struck were a lie.
“The Lincoln was not hit,” CENTCOM said in the post the same day. “The missiles launched didn’t even come close.”
The command added that the ship was continuing to launch aircraft in support of the “campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
